


Aliens waltzing under the southern sky (a freehoun high school au)

by Peachrot



Category: Half-Life
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Mute Gordon Freeman, dont have many tags for the time being, kinda embarrassing but ehhh i do what i want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 08:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24468019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peachrot/pseuds/Peachrot
Summary: Y'all saw it coming. Every fandom has to have a high school au, or maybe I'm just stuck in 2014.After moving from Boston to 'the middle of nowhere' Alabama, Gordon Freeman finds himself lost- metaphorically and physically. Who better to help him then the dashing boy sitting  right next to him, that is, if he's really what he says he is.(updates might not be frequent, but expect them)
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 109





	Aliens waltzing under the southern sky (a freehoun high school au)

**Author's Note:**

> All signing is in [ ]. Gordon is mute and mildly HoH, hence the hearing aids. Most of Gordon's dialogue is approximated to what he means rather than sign. This is for the sake of not offending those who do sign as a main use of communication. As much as I wouldn't mind glossing his dialogue, that could easily be seen as offensive to some parties. Sorry about the long note, just had to clear that up.

It was Gordon Freeman's first full day in the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere in rural Alabama to be exact. Gordon was out of not only his comfort zone, but his mind at this point. He spent days reading up on his new home and it's weird, grossly white, suburban culture. Did you know that Alabama's state drink is 'Conecuh Ridge Whiskey?' They're the only U.S state to have an alcoholic beverage as their state drink. Gordon had never even heard of a 'conecuh ridge', let alone even seen a whiskey in person, and he preferred it stay that way. He wanted nothing more than to go back in time and make sure his mom never even had to fathom moving.  
All he wanted was to be back in his Boston apartment, and NOT being suffocated by the smell of cow manure in the morning. Alas, this was just how it was going to be. Everything up to this point is going to be new. His mom has a new job, they actually have a house and all his medical bills were caught up with for the time being. They're better off here than flushing their small amount of funds down Boston's drain pipes, even if Gordon doesn't want to admit it.

"Gordon! you've got 15 minutes to get out of that bathroom and out the door!" Ms. Freeman hollered from the kitchen.

Gordon put his comb up in a drawer and took one last look in the mirror.  
[hello, my name is G-O-R-D-O-N F-R-E-E-M-A-N. I'm new in town.] He signed one last time to himself, being careful to be slow and steady so his new classmates could understand...at least a little bit. 

"Hearing aids, Gordon?" his mom asked, motioning to her ear.

[I can hear you alright.]

"Good, make sure you've got everything. I'll allow one trip back to the house if you forget anything. ONLY ONE though, I'm not going to be late on the first day of work for a pen, like last time."

[it was my best pen!]

"And it was my sister's wedding!" She chuckled as Gordon began to go through his backpack. 

Pencil bag, check, 3 binders, check, 6 folders, check, hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy unabridged and untouched….check. Pretty much everything was there and ready for him to use till it rotted away; which was usually in just a week considering the dollar store's quality mixed with Gordon's habit of turning his schoolwork into his own personal bible. 

"You ready?" His mom asked.  
Gordon nodded and swung his bag over his shoulder. 

"well gordo, this is it...your new learning institution,"

[mom, if you keep calling it that you're not going to make me feel any better]

She looked a little taken aback, but then fell back into a smirk.  
"Well then, have a wonderful day at 'school'."

Gordon smiled, [love you]  
[love you] She signed back.

Gordon hesitated….but grabbed his bag and headed out the car door. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and could immediately feel the world around him start to fog up. There were so many people just standing outside...so many who were looking at him like he was a decaying corpse rising from the ground...or at least it felt like they were looking at him. Gordon began to fiddle with his hands as he looked back at his mom, who was giving him a sympathetic thumbs up from the safety of her car. Her encouragement was enough to convince him to breathe at least. Gordon headed into the school building, the sound of his mother's worn down Toyota Camry driving away echoing in his ears. 'no point in turning away now' he repeated in his head. Yes, that's right...no point in turning away now. This is how it's gonna be...it's just like back in Boston, just a little rougher. 

"All right everyone, we have a new student today, please welcome Gordon Freeman," yelled the physics teacher, causing Gordon's hearing aids to ring.  
"Tell us about yourself, Gordon!"  
He readjusted himself, taking in a deep breath as he looked around the room. There had to be at least 27 people crammed into this tiny classroom. All 27 of them weren't really interested in what was happening, give or take a few. Despite this, Gordon felt like this was the end of the world. 

[I'm G-O-R-D-O-N….. and I'm from Boston. Nice…. to meet you all.]

He signed slowly, his hands shaking violently every step of the way. He looked back at the physics teacher, his expression begging her to go on.  
"al-alright then! Let's all say hello to Gordon! 1, 2...3!"  
The whole room was silent except for some quiet 'he..lllos?' Wonderful. That was for nothing.

The teacher gave a nervous smile and motioned Gordon to sit down, passive aggressively pushing him towards the desk with 'WELCOME NEW FRIEND' taped to it. He removed the sign and made himself comfy on the old plastic chair. Everyone was still the same, all tired and clearly begging to go home. Gordon was starting to beg to go home too. It was only first period but it already felt like his life was being sucked out. This was AP physics why are they still at the easy stuff?? 

Minutes past until suddenly, the phone began to ring- a saving grace. The teacher stopped mid sentence and began to stumble over to the phone.

"Hello? Oh yes- this is her! Oh I-"

Someone tapped on Gordon's shoulder, causing him to jump in his seat.

"Sorry!"

He looked over to see a black haired boy sitting next to him, his hand still in mid shoulder tap. 

"Sorry...uh...pal. I was wonderin' if I could maybe...copy off your notes?" The boy whispered.

Gordon looked over at the black haired boy's paper- fairly blank give or take a few scribbles and doodles, he clearly didn't really know what he was doing. Gordon's paper wasn't really the prettiest either, covered in extra notes sprawled all over the page, making it look more like the writings of a crazed prison inmate rather than someone who just enjoys taking notes. The boy was also eyeing Gordon's paper, clearly convinced that this made Gordon a genius compared to his practically blank paper. Some logic that was.

"Oh!!! Oh dear lord…" the physics teacher gasped, her hand covering her mouth, "I'll be right there sir!" Without a warning she slammed the phone down and ran out the room. 

"Well then, ain't that convenient." laughed the black haired boy, his southern accent more prevalent. Damn it- this kid was trying to make conversation, and now Gordon had no point in ignoring him, with the teacher out of the room. The boy looked at him, waiting for him to strike up some small talk.  
[A-S-L?] Gordon signed, his hands shaking.

"Yea, I know it. That's why the teacher put you next to me."

[Makes sense.]

The boy nodded and fiddled with the corner of his paper, attempting to direct Gordon's attention back to their exchange. 

Gordon ignored him. [Why do you know ASL?] 

"Oh, I work down at the dairy queen and figured I might learn it to get better tips from customers that use it. Plus, it's my foreign language credit, so there's that."

[Do many use ASL here?]

"The town over does...but they don't have a dairy queen soooo they drive over here if they really want it, which is all the time. Dairy Queen ain't that good, why do they want it so damn much? I mean, I'll enjoy it but I wouldn't waste gas on it." 

Gordon chuckled a bit, his nerves relaxing. "Oh, where are my manners..the name is Barney, Barney Calhoun. But my friends call me 'The barnyard'"

This guy was a posterboard hick, but he almost made up for it in how he seemed to carry himself. He was nervous, really, he was just forcing himself to be charismatic, it seemed. He wasn't doing a good job at hiding it. 

[You're funny, but I'm not going to give you my notes.]

Barney's smirk melted into a frown, "I thought I had you there...ya know I-I would have taken notes but uh...my pen ran out of ink!"

[your paper is written in pencil.]

Barney turned bright red as he looked over to his paper, eyeing the clear use of pencil.

"f..fuck…So it is...uhhh...I cant recover from this one...I surrender, you win uh…gornett."

[its gordon.]

"Gordon."

The sound of Barney saying his name was enough to paint a big, dumb grin over his face.

"Oh shut up, Freeman! Yea that's right, I at least know your last name! Ha! I bet you don't know- wait I told you my name."

This poor dude. Gordon knew he had to do something- lend him a braincell at least.

[Alright, when do you get off work? I'll tutor you. I'm not the best at teaching, just a warning.]

Barney lit up, it was almost blinding, "REALLY? I mean-" he cleared his throat, "really? You'd help me?"

Gordon nodded. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Besides, Barney was cute, let alone probably one of the only people here who understood what he was saying half the time. 

"Oh uh- my break is around 5, that should be enough time to at least get these notes down."  
[cool. it's settled then. I'll help you fill in those blanks of yours.]


End file.
